Richard Riakporhe battles Olanrewaju Durodola for the WBC 'silver' cruiserweight title on November 20, live on Sky Sports, with Caroline Dubois also making her professional debut at The SSE Arena, Wembley
Tuesday 5 October 2021 14:30, UK
Richard Riakporhe says a world cruiserweight title fight is "so close" but he is now priming his destructive power for "a war" against Olanrewaju Durodola.
The unbeaten 31-year-old battles Durodola for the WBC 'silver' title on November 20, live on Sky Sports, on a Boxxer bill which also features the professional debut of Caroline Dubois at The SSE Arena, Wembley.
Riakporhe ended an absence of nearly two years from the ring with a points victory over Krzysztof Twardowski on Saturday, but he is fully aware of the threat posed by Durodola.
"I'm looking forward to getting back in there and I know I'm going to do 10 times better," Riakporhe told Sky Sports.
"Expect a war, and when people come to fight, I always perform better.
"Perform and get the win, but make sure it's a significant win. Make sure it's a memorable one. That's most important.
"That's what me and the team are working towards now. Just expect an explosive performance from myself and better than last time."
Referring to a world title shot, Riakporhe said: "It's so close. That fight, I think it's going to be made for the WBC 'silver' title.
"That means I could literally go for a world title shot the fight after."
A right hand from Riakporhe had dropped Twardowski heavily in the last round, although the Polish fighter bravely reached the final bell.
Riakporhe admits he was hampered by poor timing due to inactivity which denied him the opportunity to deliver another dramatic knockout.
"Now I do understand what they mean by ring rust," he said.
"It's pretty dangerous, if you take a huge amount of time out and expect to perform at the same level.
"I was just waiting for him to throw that shot to the body and when I threw that shot, he went down straight away. I could tell it shut his body off.
"The reason why he got up so quick, I found out that he's never been put down before ever. He's never been stopped either. He was a tough guy, that's why he got up so quick.
"I was quite surprised, but I wasn't as surprised when Wilder knocked down Fury and he got back up!"
